Fire Bamboo

"Thirty-six jin of spirit rice? Given what you own, I'm afraid that'll be difficult."

Old Jia spoke frankly.

Zhou Ning really couldn't come up with that much money unless he sold the stolen goods in his Storage Bag. That was even more out of the question. Chai Dingchun's little red sword and pills were anything but ordinary.

His cultivation was shallow. If an Evil Cultivator set eyes on him while he was selling them, he would likely face ten deaths and no life.

Zhou Ning thought for a moment, then took out the packet of medicine Su Wen had given him the day before last.

"Old sir, could you take a look and tell me what it's worth?"

Old Jia opened it and looked inside. "Oh? Clear Eyes Powder. With this as collateral, you're still eight jin of spirit rice short."

Zhou Ning hadn't expected it to be worth so much. He could only marvel that a disciple of an Aristocratic Clan truly lived up to her name: even a small gesture from her was extraordinary.

Although Old Jia hadn't asked, Zhou Ning still put in a good word for her. "Steward Su saw that I'd injured my eyes through practice, so she gave it to me especially for treatment. I couldn't bear to use it, so I saved it."

Old Jia nodded, now understanding how that pauper Zhou had come by such medicine.

He said, "You've shed blood for the Su Household. It's only right."

The two exchanged a glance, as though silently speaking of "loyalty."

Zhou Ning returned to his room and fetched another bag of spirit rice. "Old sir, the next time you go out, I hope you can bring me a pure heart wisteria flower on your way back," he said sincerely.

Over the past two years, Old Jia had bought most of Xu Qinghou's spirit medicine for him, so the request was reasonable enough.

Old Jia hefted the bag. It actually contained ten jin of spirit rice, two jin more than necessary.

He had already guessed what Zhou Ning had come for, so he had quoted a lower price for the medicine packet. All told, he had made a killing.

But when he thought of how Zhou Ning was absorbed in the Blood Sha Palm every day, Old Jia's scant conscience stirred a little.

"Are you really going to use a pure heart wisteria flower to practice a worldly martial art?"

"Even if you become a martial arts grandmaster, you still won't be able to break through the Water Shield Technique of cultivators like us."

Zhou Ning's tone was firm. "My mind is made up!"

"In that case, suit yourself."

Old Jia stopped trying to dissuade him. He usually made money by buying things for others, and Xu Qinghou had also asked him to take care of something yesterday.

"Why pick another day when today will do? I, this old Daoist, will set out now!"

With that, he reached into his Storage Bag, and a Law Artifact in the shape of a green leaf floated into the air.

Old Jia stepped onto the Law Artifact and called out, "A favorable wind lends me its strength and sends me soaring into the azure clouds!"

The next moment, he shot straight up into the sky, his robes snapping in the wind. What a magnificent sight!

Though Old Jia's aptitude was unremarkable and he couldn't break through to Late Qi Refining, he had cultivated for enough years to have money to improve his life.

Zhou Ning watched him fly away, becoming a streak of spiritual light in the sky.

He couldn't help feeling envious. It was great to have a vehicle!

Unlike Zhou Ning, who could only row a boat at a snail's pace if he wanted to leave Cuiwei Lake.

Once I'm strong enough, I'll definitely buy one. When the time comes to go to Yongyang Commandery for the seven-year appointment, it'll save me some time too!

Old Jia had flown far enough that he reckoned Zhou Ning could no longer see him. Only then did he slow down.

He had no choice. Flying at full speed consumed far too much spiritual power; he simply couldn't keep it up for long.

After flying another few dozen li, he found a reef. He pulled a little folding stool from his Storage Bag, then took out a fishing rod, looking every bit an enlightened master fishing by the lake.

Yuan Dahu and his companions passed by with their net spread out. One of them was astonished.

"Old Jia, you actually have the leisure to fish?"

Old Jia stroked his beard, unruffled. "Life is but thirty thousand short days. Why must one strive to be first in everything?"

The young men envied his leisure, but they still had to toil for a living. They could only carry on fishing, gradually making their way into the distance.

Someone said longingly, "Old Jia's life is wonderful. He really knows how to enjoy himself!"

Xu Qinghou couldn't resist reciting a poem: "Fishing, I sit upon a rock; the water is clear, my heart at ease."

Everyone gave him a thumbs-up, admiring his talent.

Yuan Dahu scoffed. "I'd say he used up all his Law Power flying on that Law Artifact and couldn't bear to use spirit rice to recover it, so he picked some lousy spot to meditate. What a pauper!"

"Huh?" Everyone looked at one another.

Zhou Ning didn't have to fish today.

He figured it would probably be a few days before Old Jia returned, so he planned to cook some dishes and treat him and Scholar Xu when the time came.

Why not hunt some game, stretch my limbs while I'm at it, and test my four-meridian strength with my Qi Refining cultivation bolstering it?

Two years ago, Xu Qinghou had caught a pheasant on the back mountain. It had been exceptionally delicious. Later, Xu Qinghou became busy with net fishing and simply told Zhou Ning where to find them.

Over the past two years, Zhou Ning had occasionally gone hunting when he had time to spare.

Zhou Ning used his qinggong, his figure darting forward at about twice the speed he had managed two years ago, and he wasn't even going all out.

"At this speed, with a sharp Law Artifact to match, could an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator really be my match?" Zhou Ning couldn't help wondering.

Bamboo Creek Island was shaped like a shoe. Zhou Ning and the others lived on the western side, while the eastern side rose higher, forming a hill.

Zhou Ning entered the lush mountain forest and found the pheasants' haunt as usual. He lay in wait for a full half hour.

On the soft ground, mottled with patches of light, a seven-colored pheasant lowered its head to peck at grain.

Zhou Ning used no hidden weapon. Relying solely on the might of his flesh, he stepped forward and reached out as easily as taking something from a bag, seizing the pheasant by the neck.

Another pheasant nearby flapped its colorful wings and took off, surprisingly fast.

Zhou Ning weighed the bird in his hand. "One isn't enough. At least two and a half!"

Carrying the pheasant, he sprang off the ground and shot into the air. He leaped and twisted between the tree trunks, chasing the fleeing bird for several hundred meters before catching it in midair.

After landing, Zhou Ning faintly sensed something unusual around him. The once damp, shady surroundings seemed to hold a current of warmth.

He roused the Qi and Blood throughout his body and followed that sensation for another ten-odd zhang, but all he could see was still green woodland.

He activated the Spirit Eye Technique. The scenery before him grew slightly hazy, and Zhou Ning pushed the technique to its limit in one go.

"Pierce the illusion!"

The Spirit Eye Technique was the skill he relied on to make a living.

Through the haze, he saw a dense red bamboo grove beneath the towering trees, with fine red sand carpeting the ground.

Zhou Ning forced himself to endure the soreness in his eyes and studied the faint markings on the bamboo. He recognized it. "Red iron bamboo?"

He recognized it because Chai Dingchun's clan grew it to exchange for spiritual materials.

"It seems the spiritual materials of the two worlds are the same," Zhou Ning confirmed.

Red iron bamboo could be used to draw talismans, refine artifacts, and lay out formations. Its most important use, of course, was building spirit boats and large spirit ships.

So much red iron bamboo... What is the Su Household planning?

Zhou Ning stopped using the Spirit Eye Technique. His eyes flickered as he quietly withdrew.

Though it looked close enough to touch, he didn't dare go near it. There might be restrictions hidden there, and he didn't want to be wiped out without even knowing why.

On the way back, Zhou Ning frowned slightly, recalling that a large ship had docked at Bamboo Creek Island half a year ago.

It had stayed by the back mountain for some time, probably to plant this bamboo.

A bewildering formation had also been laid down. Even if an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator swept the area with Divine Sense, they would probably take it for ordinary mountain forest.

Had he not been born with a fire spirit root, with Qi and Blood blazing like a furnace throughout his body and an affinity for things of fiery yang, he could never have discovered it.

Carrying the two chickens, Zhou Ning silently resolved, I must never come here again.

When one's strength was low, there were many secrets one could not touch, or one might lose one's life for no reason.